


can we be seventeen?

by acennabeth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Dorks, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, but they are having fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acennabeth/pseuds/acennabeth
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are seventeen and they're staying up all night, trying to do normal teenagers things (like impulsively dying your hair at four in the morning, maybe)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 20
Kudos: 117





	can we be seventeen?

It’s two in the morning and she feels warm.

Percy and Annabeth are laying down on the couch. The television in front of them is playing Howl's Moving Castle for the second time this week. She sighs happily when Percy puts one of his arms around her shoulder. She wants to stay like this forever, she thinks, with Percy's arm around her shoulder and she rests her head on his and she feels warm. The lights are off and she could distantly hear the sound of car honking and people walking because this is New York, the city that never sleeps.

It's been a hard week. Between school works, Ares' request to make another statue of him (she already designed six statues of him! For gods' sake, how many statues does he wants?) and the constant nightmares, she gets a little to no sleep these past days. She hums and let her eyes closed, feeling sleepier every second.

"Are you sleeping?"

Annabeth blinks, she glances at Percy, who's smiling at her with amusement. Okay so, maybe, she told him a few hours ago that she's been sleeping fine and would stay up all night with him for a ghibli movie marathon. Annabeth frowns at him. "No, I'm not."

"You totally did, babe, you know we can just sleep if you just admit that you haven't been sleeping well."

Annabeth huffs, sitting up a little straight and take a full glance at Percy. He looks stunning, even if she couldn't see him clearly in this light, his eyes are challenging, as if he’s telling her to stop being stubborn. Annabeth doesn't say anything, just stare at him, challenging him back. He rolls his eyes at her and then he cups her cheek with his free hand, she feels herself leaning into his touch.

They stay like that for a while, staring at each other, feeling comfort in the silence and the presence of each other. Because they're seventeen and they might not be the okay-est teenagers in the world, but that's okay because they're together.

Percy's hand is on her cheek for a few more seconds and then he slowly move his hand towards her lips. And well, she thinks it's because he just looks so soft and cute beside her so without thinking, she bites his hand.

Percy is clearly surprised with her actions. He quickly pull his hand away from her, his eyes wide, and then he laughs, hard.

"Did you just—"

"Yes."

"What the fuck."

"You set yourself up when you put your hand on my lips! Also, it's two in the morning and I can't think straight."

He threw back his head and let out a loud laugh, Annabeth glances at the door of his parents' room, a little worried that they would wake up because of his loud laugh.

"You just—you—you bit me! Like, just randomly biting me because my hand is in front of your mouth, what the hell." He's still laughing and he’s laughing so hard there’s tears in his eyes. She rolls her eyes but couldn't help smiling because he's annoying but his laugh is contagious and she feels warm all around her body.

"Stop it!" She whines. She crosses her arms defensively, pouting when Percy doesn't listen and just start laughing more. 

"You're gonna wake up your parents and your sister if you keep laughing like that!"

"Okay, okay, " Percy raises both of his hands in surrender, still smirking at her, "You're so fucking cute, it’s unfair." He surges forward to kiss her and she is glowing. It’s just Annabeth and Percy in the living room, his laughs seem to lighten the room and her heart is throbbing with happiness.

She loves moments like this. Moments where it’s just the two of them, presses into each other, and she feels fully and wonderfully alive. She kisses him, and kiss, and kiss, and a few more kisses later, they’re looking at each other in the eyes, trying to catch their breath while grinning widely. Annabeth rests her head on his shoulder, while he wraps his arms around her waist. “I love you.” She murmurs into his shoulder.

“I love you too, even when you bit me.”

Annabeth groans at that, she bit his shoulder just to piss him off, and he laughs again. 

"Gods I hate you." 

“You just told me you love me a second ago!” 

"No, I didn't."

She can feel him rolling his eyes at her but she stays there, in Percy's arms, head on his shoulder. The ghibli movie in front of them forgotten, and she closes her eyes, because suddenly she feels terribly tired. She can feel one of Percy's arm moves to her head, stroking her hair gently.

"I want to do something fun." he murmurs gently into her ears. She groans, a little annoyed he disturbed her almost-sleep.

“This is fun.”

“Yeah, but I want to do something fun and impulsive, but like, normal teenagers-impulsive and not the demigod-impulsive type,” He sighs as he plays with the curls of her hair, “We’re seventeen, Beth, don’t you think we deserve to act like it?”

Annabeth falls silent. They’re seventeen and in love and they deserve to be a little stupid and reckless, she thinks, not the reckless type that would get them dying, just the reckless and stupid that would make them laugh every time they talk about their teenage years when they are older. 

She usually avoids thinking about the past and the what ifs, because she knows she would get lost in the thoughts and she’s scared and she’s tired and that’s why she works, and works, and works. But in here, with Percy, she finds a courage and think about the past. She never really tried to do something fun that teenager mortals usually do, not because she didn’t want to, it’s just, between trying to stay alive and preparing for the end the world, she never had the chance. 

Annabeth pulls herself back so she can see Percy’s face. He's looking at her all soft and cute and—god, she can never say no when he's looking at her like that. She smiles at him. “Well? What do you want to do?”

Percy pursed his lips and then he tilts his head slightly, he thinks for a second before his face breaks into a grin. “I want to dye my hair blue.” He admits.

“Why am I not surprised,” she jokes at him and he rolls his eyes at her, “But you know, I’ve bleached my friend’s hair a few times so maybe I can dye your hair.” She said. And it’s true, her dorm mate loves to change her hair color every few months and usually she asks Annabeth to help her, and also, when she was younger she used to hang out in the Aphrodite cabin and they love dying their hair when they’re bored, so even though Annabeth never dyed her hair, she knows how to do it.

Percy raises an eyebrow at her, but then he nods, “Let’s do it now.”

“What?” Annabeth asks, clearly surprised. But Percy grins and then he shrugs lightly. “I mean, there’s a store nearby who sells hair dyes, and they are open for 24 hours so why not? Come on!”

Annabeth stares at him, a little dumbfounded. Percy is already getting up, steadying himself when he stands because he’s been on the couch for so long his legs forgot how to stand. By the time she realizes what he said, Percy’s already grabbing two jackets and he gives one to Annabeth. Annabeth wants to ask Percy if he’s crazy because it’s almost three in the morning and he hasn’t even asked for Sally’s permission, but then she sees his face and he’s beaming. He’s beaming and glowing and she feels so warm because, god, she loves him so much it’s not even funny.

“This is a bad idea.” She states. Because if anything goes wrong she needs Percy to know he’s the only one to blame because this is Percy’s idea and it’s not her fault she finds him so cute she can’t even refuse his stupid idea.

Percy only give her his signature troublemaker smile as he walks to the television to turn it off. Annabeth put on her jacket quickly then she lifts her wrist to look for her scrunchie, only to find that it’s not there. 

“Perce, did you see my scrunchie?”

“Yeah! It’s here.” Percy lifts his wrist and she blinks because why the hell her scunchie is on Percy’s wrist? But Annabeth recovers quickly and she takes the scrunchie from his hand then she ties her hair. 

“Let’s go.” Percy grabs Annabeth’s hand and then they start to walk. Once they’re out of Percy’s apartment, the cold air of February hits their faces. Annabeth shivers and wraps her jacket tighter. She can hear Percy chuckling lowly beside her as he wraps one arm around her. 

The walk to the store is rather silent. Annabeth feels relieved when they finally get to the store, since the store is ten times warmer compared to the weather outside. The store was empty, there's only one employee who doesn’t even glance at them, probably already used to teenagers coming at odd hours.

“So, what should we buy?” He asks, observing the shelves in front of them. Annabeth moves forward, searching for the bleach that her dorm mate usually use, once she finds it she tries to reach the blue hair dye on the top shelf but it’s too high for her. She glances at Percy, who’s standing two feet away from her, distracted by a crocodile dentist. 

“Percy!” She calls him and he looks at her with a big grin on his face. An unexpected happiness is consuming her, she doesn’t know why but it’s three in the morning and they’re here to buy hair dye and just being a normal teenager and her boyfriend gets distracted by a crocodile dentist and she feels warm because her boyfriend is such a dork and she loves him so much and—

“Can you please get the blue hair dye? I can’t reach it.” She explains. Percy’s grin only grows wider and she’s so warm. 

“Shortie.” Percy teases her and she rolls her eyes at him. He grabs the blue hair dye on the top shelf for her and she looks up to him, thinking about how it’s unfair that she has been five foot seven since she was thirteen, and Percy is seventeen but he’s still growing because before the giant war she remembered Percy being only two inches taller than her but now he’s like, six inches taller than her, she hasn’t decide if she loves or hates it.

“You should dye your hair too.” He suggests, smiling and scanning the shelf in front of them. Annabeth tilts her head, thinking, she has never dye her hair before. “I’ve never dye my hair before.”

“Yeah, duh, me too? Let’s pick a light color for you,” he grabs a pink hair dye and then give it to her, “What about this? Pink and blue, isn’t that like opposite color or something? That’s cool.” He smiles, clearly proud of his idea.

Annabeth is holding back a smile, “Your mom is going to kill us.” And Percy is laughing. He’s laughing and he grins so wide she feels butterfly in her stomach.

“Oh, she’s so going to kill us.”

Annabeth giggles and she stands closer to Percy, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes because it’s three in the morning and she feels happy and sleepy at the same time. She can hear Percy’s chuckles then he wraps his arms around her. “Are you sleepy? Sleepy baby.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

She can feel his chest trembles with laughter then she feels his kiss on top of her head and she thinks she might explode with happiness. Annabeth is not a selfish person, but she couldn’t help but feeling selfish every time she’s with Percy, wanting to stay like this forever, safe and warm, not caring about the end of the world.

“Come on, we should pay and then go back.”

-

Bleaching hair, turn out, is easier said than done. Percy and Annabeth are on Percy’s bathroom, Percy sitting on the toilet and Annabeth is standing by the sink, preparing and mixing the bleach, developer and conditioner.

“I think we can bleach your hair just once since we want to dye your hair to a royal blue and it’s kinda dark so we only need to bleach your hair to a dark blonde. Also, since your hair is virgin it’s easier to bleach, I think.”

“Okay, I don’t really understand what the fuck you’re saying but I’ll go along with it.” He nods at her. Annabeth only roll her eyes at him, still mixing the bleach.

“I’m like, really tired, Beth, think I’m going to sleep here.” His eyes are half closed and he yawns because it’s almost four in the morning and they’re tired.

“Okay, done,” she mutters when she finishes mixing the bleach, then she turns to Percy, who sits half asleep on the closet, “Come on let’s bleach your hair.”

“Right, let’s go, you’re ready to take my virginity for the second time, Chase?”

“You’re not as funny as you think you are.”

“Fuck off, my sense of humor is hilarious.”

“No one’s laughing here.”

“You are a bully, Annabeth Chase, and you’re so mean to me when you’re sleep deprived.”

“You find me sexy when I’m being mean.” She retorts matter-of-factly.

“That’s not true!” He quickly defends himself, then he tilts his head, rethinking his words, “Okay, yeah, maybe a little bit, but like, when you glare at people or something, not when you’re making fun of me.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, “Do you want me to stop making fun of you?”

“No.” He frowns and Annabeth laughs at his ridiculousness. she brushes his hair gently with her hands and then start bleaching his hair. 

“Is it working?” He asks. She laughs at him because it hasn’t even been five minutes yet. She’s working on the aluminum foils on his head and then she takes a step backward, not bad, she thinks.

“Done. We just have to wait.” She tells him as she walks to the sink and start to mix her hair dye with the conditioner. Since she’s already blonde, she doesn’t have to bleach her hair. It’s a pretty color, she thinks. The color is peach and it’s just so pretty she can’t help but grins when she puts the hair dye on her hair. 

She used to hate the color pink, when she was ten and thought everything ‘girly’ was weak and bad. And then she met Silena Beauregard that summer, Silena was three years older than her and she was the daughter of Aphrodite. Annabeth used to think children of Aphrodite are obnoxious and weak but when she met Silena she started to hang out in the Aphrodite cabin a lot. Silena is like the sister Annabeth never had, she talked to Silena about everything, including things Percy-related. Silena was so sure Annabeth and Percy would end up together, she encouraged Annabeth to made the first move with Percy. Annabeth thinks Silena would be very proud of her if she’s here right now. It’s unfair, she thinks, because Silena was so pretty and she was so happy and she had a bright future in front of her but now she’s gone. Silena deserved a happy ending and it’s just so unfair and—

Annabeth doesn’t realize that she’s shaking until she hears Percy’s voice and feels Percy’s hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?” He asks her softly, his eyes full of concerns and he squeezes her shoulder a little. She studies him in silence. She’s not selfish, she thinks, but they deserve a happy ending.

“I’m okay, sorry.” She tries to reassure him. He still looks concerned but he nods at her. “Do you need help?”

She nods at him, smiling softly, and they start to working on her hair. His hands are soft on her hair, filling every blonde hair with a pink dye. After a few minutes, and Annabeth’s hair is done, they take a look at each other, and they’re both grinning so hard it hurts. 

“This is the best idea I’ve ever had.” He exclaims. He’s grinning so hard it’s like happiness streaked through him like a comet. He’s beaming and glowing and the warmth came back to her.

“Your enthusiasm is cute but we haven’t put the blue hair dye on you, Perce, haven't even washed the bleach out of your hair yet, there’s still chances this will end up terribly.”

“Shut up, Beth, you’re killing the vibe.” He groans dramatically. Annabeth laughs at him and then she leans forward to kiss him. He tastes like popcorn, cookies and mint, and she kisses him deeper, greedily trying to taste every bit of him. She groans when he bites her bottom lip, and then she feels one of his hand on her ass, and the other one is on her stomach, moving higher with every second.

“Percy,” She whispers, forcing herself to pull away, and he groans, trying to chase her lips, “You need to wash your hair.”

An hour later they’re sitting on Percy’s bed, hair pink and blue and half wet. Percy immediately lay down on his bed, “Gods,” he murmurs, “I’m so tired.” 

Annabeth nods and then cuddle up next to Percy. “Me too, I just want to sleep.” She closes her eyes. Percy’s arms goes to her waist, holding her close.

“You better, you probably haven’t sleep for like, three days.”

Annabeth lets out a small chuckle, “That’s not true! I’ve slept this past three days, only for like, three hours each day, but the point is, I slept.”

“It’s Sunday we can sleep until noon, I think,” He kisses her nose and pull her closer, "Good night."

Percy and Annabeth are seventeen and they might not be the okay-est teenagers in the world, but that's okay because they're healing and they’re together.

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my second fic ever and I'm using present tense bc im trying to find a style that I like so yeah :D also I'm trying to pay more attention to details but whoa its definitely easier said than done, the fact that I'm not a native English speaker also make it worse but I'm trying! btw u can find me on tumblr my url is slythabeth :DDDDDD


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